


shaken

by kiyala



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Dreams, Jaegercon Bingo, M/M, Nightmares, Shared Dreams
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-07
Updated: 2013-08-07
Packaged: 2017-12-22 17:14:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/915894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiyala/pseuds/kiyala
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Newton has nightmares. Sometimes, Hermann has them too.</p>
            </blockquote>





	shaken

**Author's Note:**

> Written for my "nightmares" square for [Jaegercon Bingo](http://jaegercon.tumblr.com/post/57225250646/).
> 
> This fic has been translated into Russian by Kseni and can be found [here](http://kseniv.diary.ru/p190694498.htm?oam)!

Newton doesn't sleep well. It's a fact that Hermann has only ever guessed at before but now, with the remnants of the Drift still lingering at the back of their minds, he knows it for certain. From across the hall each morning, Hermann hears the five alarms that Newton sets to wake him. He goes about his morning like he's reluctant to be conscious and he _looks_ exhausted. Even once he's woken, it takes an entire hour and a mug of strong coffee before he's back to being the energetic and irritating Newton that Hermann knows and just barely tolerates.

With the Breach closed, they're all getting a lot more sleep than before, the frenzied pace at which they worked slowing into something more relaxed as they tie up their loose ends and archive all of their research. It means that Newton has more time to sleep, which also means he has more time to dream.

Hermann has heard that an interesting side effect of Drifting together is the occasional shared dream. He experiences this first hand for the very first time when, in the middle of the night, he is thrown into a disorienting dream set in the middle of an alien landscape. It takes him half a moment to realise that it's the Anteverse, everything tinged with blue. Blue from the Kaiju, blue from the Drift, blue blue blue and Newton is standing in the middle of it, shaking with fear. 

It's not the Kaiju that Newton's afraid of, that much Hermann knows without a second thought. It's everything else. There's the uncertainty, the malicious intent that had come from the Kaiju's brain through the Drift, the desire to consume and destroy. Hermann remembers how shaken Newton had been after the first time, but then he'd willingly Drifted with the Kaiju again. Hermann can see how badly it is affecting him, and that is to say nothing about the way that he feels it sometimes—as sharply as he feels his own emotions—a sudden spike of fear and panic and helplessness and then it's gone, Newton is out of his head, and Hermann is left to wonder how he can function with these thoughts constantly circulating at the back of his mind.

Then, one night, Hermann jerks awake. He immediately knows why; he knows that Newton's jerked awake from his nightmares just across the hall. Getting to his feet, Hermann grabs his cane and walks to the door, turning the large handle with a creak and opening his door. Newton's door opens at the same time, and for a moment it feels like their minds are still connected.

Hermann shuts his door behind him and walks across the hall, to stand in Newton's doorway. From this close, Newton looks frightened, he looks like he's still half-asleep, and Hermann leans his cane against the door so that he can place both hands on Newton's shoulders. When he runs a hand through Newton's hair, he knows that he's working from Newton's memories, still lingering somewhere in his mind, of how his mother used to comfort him like this. Newton's eyes slide shut for a moment and when he blinks them open to look at Hermann, he's a little more lucid.

"I'm sorry I woke you."

"It's…" Hermann gives Newton the most comforting smile he can. "It's not your fault, Newton."

He walks Newton back into his room, and back to bed. He sits on the edge of Newton's bed, because Newton mumbles in complaint otherwise. He doesn't know how long he sits there before Newton falls asleep but at some point, Newton's hand slides into his own. 

The next morning, Hermann wakes up to realise that they're both squeezed onto Newton's narrow bed, and that they're still holding hands. Newton sleeps on peacefully behind him, quieter and calmer than Hermann has ever seen before.

Shutting his eyes, Hermann goes back to sleep.


End file.
